The
Fall issue of Crossroads, ACM's student magazine is out. The
subject is Linux; there are articles on topics like parallel
computing, the Linux DSP shell, and an interview with Victor
Yodaiken.

Salon Magazine
compares Apple and free software. "Today Apple is a niche
player making a successful comeback. The free-software hackers have
taken Apple's place -- they are the new brash guerrilla warriors
lining up to swing their sledgehammers into the icon of the new Big
Brother, now played by Microsoft." (Thanks to Paul Hewitt).

Red Hat:

Red Hat 6.1 will be released on Monday, according to this
TechWeb article. "Red Hat Linux 6.1... will feature a
streamlined installation, online software updates, and enhancements
for managing distributed computing architectures..."

TechWeb ran this
article about Caldera's IPO plans. "Caldera Systems likely
will file for an initial public offering after Jan. 1, 2000, rather
than next month as originally planned..."

News.com looks at
the Andover.net IPO. "Using the OpenIPO method is another
twist on the sometimes awkward interactions between the largely
volunteer open-source programming movement and the companies who
hope to profit from it. The OpenIPO process, by including more than
just big-name investors, lets Andover.net avoid being perceived as
a parasite that doesn't give anything back to the community."

Also in News.com: this
uncritical article about LinuxOne's IPO filing. "With
almost 9.2 million shares to be outstanding after a planned IPO,
the company would sell about a 33 percent stake and have a market
value of $73.3 million if shares sell for $8 each."

Corel:

The Montreal Gazette looks
at Corel. "Some computer experts are calling Linux the
single most serious threat to Microsoft's hegemony over the server
software market. Corel is counting on getting a share of the
market. Some analysts said Corel's decision to develop software
that runs on Linux offers the best chance to get the stock back on
track."

Here's a
fairly nasty article in the National Post about Corel.
"With Corel's share price now rebounding, you might think things
are on the mend at the edge-of-disaster software company. They're
not. Instead, Ottawa-based Corel is up to its usual tricks, with
chairman Mike Cowpland bobbing, weaving and generally doing
whatever he can to convince shareholders that the moribund software
company is anything but. And he has found new fools to separate
from their money at Slashdot." The article also describes
Linus Torvalds as "a pompous Finn."

This
CBS MarketWatch article has a few paragraphs on Corel, and their
partnership with Ebiz. "Ebiz plans to pre-load Corel WordPerfect 8
for Linux Personal Edition onto some of its desktop computers and
hand-held Internet access machines."

Business:

E-Commerce Times ran this
article about the new set-top box by Lineo and MeterNet.
"The Lineo product was chosen, according to MeterNet, because it
will lend OEM customers a greater degree of flexibility over other
platform-based solutions. The first Linux-based devices -- which
will utilize a Cyrix processor and broadband Ethernet connection
for access via cable, DSL or satellite -- is set to ship in the
first quarter of 2000."

Andover News ran a
Newsbytes story about the Lineo/MeterNet set-top box. "The
non-proprietary, open standard Linux operating system (OS) is
destined for America's homes." (Thanks to Cesar
A. K. Grossmann).

EE Times looks
at Cygnus Software's EL/IX release. "A veteran company of
the open-source movement will unveil this week what it hopes will
become a unifying application programming interface for using the
GNU-Linux operating system in the embedded world."

InfoWorld covers
Inprise's announcements of upcoming development tools for
Linux. "The full embrace of Linux by Inprise across its tools
and middleware offerings shows a strategic shift based on the
assumption that Linux will ultimately become a major enterprise
platform. Linux will also grow quickly as a preferred workstation
development platform, Inprise officials said."

Computer Currents tells how
to build an intranet for less. "...developers love Linux
because it's flexible, which makes it easily scalable. NT may
provide a friendlier environment for adding users and devices, but
Linux isn't as picky about things such as configuration and
drivers. Nor will Linux give up when it encounters roadblocks while
trying to serve certain users, as NT has been known to
do."

Here's an
E-Commerce Times story about the release of OpenMerchant.
"Free 'out of the box' OpenMerchant features include management
modules for content, customer service, inventory, and merchandise
along with a search terms manager. 'The days of creating closed and
proprietary systems are over,' commented Michelle Kraus, president
and CEO of OpenSales."

Upside has
this article about BeOpen.com, another open source
portal site attempt. "'The way I see it, the nucleus has
finally come together,' says [BeOpen founder] Weiner, pointing to
both the Linux operating system and the Internet infrastructure
that shaped it. 'All that's missing is a way to take the remaining
porridge of open source technologies, just like that porridge of
organic material that originally covered the earth and shape them
into some sort of living entity.'"

IT-Director.com looks at the
future of software pricing. "Fair to say, then, that the
cost of certain kinds of software will plummet. However, do not be
taken in by vendor ploys: even likeable Linus has a vested
interest. Vendors don't do anything without a reason, for example,
they hope to damage their competition or attract you to other
elements of their product line. Make the most of the opportunities
as they present themselves, then, but remember TANSTAAFL: there
ain't no such thing as a free license." (Found in NNL).

Here's an
Internet Week article that says Sun won't go very far with
StarOffice. "Like everything else in life, you get what you pay
for. There may be plenty of users who will take advantage of a free
office suite. But serious users who rely on these tools for
business are far less likely to consider StarOffice a viable
alternative."

Nicholas Petreley looks
at Microsoft's purchase of Softway Systems and other topics in
this InfoWorld column. "...some ... speculate that Microsoft
bought Softway in order to deliver Linux for Windows, as a way to
derail the increasing popularity of Linux. I can't adequately
describe my first reaction to this notion. I simply don't know how
to represent uncontrollable laughter in text. The idea of Linux for
Windows sounded too much like the last resort of a company that
can't find any other way to get Linux applications to
crash."

Dave Winer calls
on Microsoft to port its applications to Linux. "The smart
thing to do, IMHO, is to fully embrace Linux. Let's work together
to make Windows apps run beautifully on Linux. It'll be good for
Microsoft. The only other choice is to be at odds with developers
because the pull to Linux is economic and inexorable."

The Economist looks
at the prospects for Windows 2000. "The wild card is Linux,
the fast-growing (and free) Unix-based operating system. According
to IDC, a research firm, Linux is taking about 17% of the server
market and growing at the expense of both NT and other Unix
systems. It may lack the features of Windows 2000, but because its
source code is open it can be easily fixed or modified. And free is
free."

Is
Linux a legitimate network OS? asks ZDNet. "You might want
to think twice, however, with applications that demand the best
performance or the best reliability; Linux offers no clustering
support and has immature SMP support and limited file-system
support and RAID functionality." (Thanks to Cesar
A. K. Grossmann).

Here's a
PC Magazine article about Linux's continuing progress.
"In response to the growing popularity of Unix and Linux,
computer companies are scrambling to provide more Linux and Unix
systems while software companies are promising more applications
and customer support."

Information Week ran this
look at Linux on the desktop. "Critics of Linux come in all
shapes and sizes, but proponents seem to be a remarkably
homogeneous group. Companies that have embraced Linux are typically
either those that have been Unix shops for some time or those that
employ IT staffers who champion the operating system."

Linus:

Reuters talks
with Linus. "Computer software prices will crash when the
need for constant upgrades disappears, and this is only a matter of
time, leading computer and software expert Linus Torvalds said on
Thursday."

Linus Torvalds himself wouldn't have told us, but now we see what
he's up to on his vacation: according to this
article (in Swedish) in Aftonbladet, he is getting an honorary
doctorate at the University of Stockholm. Sven Wallman, who
pointed this out, translates a quote from Linus: "I dont want to
be called a rebel. I'm not against anything and rebel sounds a bit
negative. I've had my own view of how I want to work with
computers. And genius? I've been successful and that is because I'm
competent, but I've also had lots of luck"

Here's a
brief Reuters article saying that Transmeta may start talking
about what they are doing this November at Comdex. And it's Linus
who let that information slip...

Channel One's attempt to trademark "Linux" in Germany is being
withdrawn, according to this
CNN article. "Hamburg-based Channel One GmbH is in the
process of having its claim to the name Linux in Germany deleted,
according to Achim Cloer, the chairman of Germany's Linux
Association, a user group."

The Seattle Times looks
at the Linux Journal. "But while Linux Journal is laced
with the vocabulary of class struggle, its mission also is to help
foster the success of the Linux operating system in a capitalist
world."

This
OS Opinion article looks at the GNU GPL and how copyleft applies
to non-software information. "The GNU GPL originated for the
specific goal of sharing software among computer programmers. However,
looking closely at the GPL, it appears that the same License can be
easily applied to non-software information."

The latest installation
nightmare story comes from CNN. This time the author has a
hard time with Caldera OpenLinux 1.3. No explanation of why they
had to install such an old version of the distribution... "My
daylong effort to install Caldera's Linux 1.3 on a PC gave me
chilling flashbacks to my bewilderment in certain physics
classes. I was told I had succeeded but I wasn't sure at what. For
now, I'm glad I have my 'real' PC with Windows to rely on rather
than the Linux PC."

A while back we got a few pointers to the Jesux
distribution page, but chose not to run them. But now, MSNBC
has run an
article which appears to take "the distribution that will not
lead you into temptation" seriously. "No one who knows Unix and
the sensibilities of some Christians will be surprised to see that
Jesux Developers is seriously considering replacing such common
Unix names as 'kill,' 'abort,' and 'daemon.'"